Free Inquiry Forum

Noted feminist author and researcher Barbara G. Walker will speak on the subject of “Sexism” at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, 3975 Fruitville Road (map), on Sunday, August 24, at 10:30 a.m. Ms. Walker is the author of “The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets,” “The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects,” “The Crone,” “Feminist Fairy Tales,” and many other books and articles. She is a member of the Gulf Coast Humanists and the Unitarian Congregation of Venice, and has given talks and workshops to a number of groups around our area.

From Meigs:

First Friday Freethinkers Group at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Saraota - All are welcome!

Due to the July 4 holiday, the meeting will take place Thursday, July 3. This discussion group has been formed with the goal of nurturing a social climate in accord with humanist, secularist, rationalist, and Unitarian Universalist principles. Both Bill Sorrell and Rick Sandler will tell us how they came to Unitarian Universalism. This will be followed by the topic: “The Battle For Your Mind: The Media’s Influence on the Public” presented by Rick Sandler. A discussion of the topic will follow. Suggested reading: “Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth About the American Voter,” by Rick Shenkman.

When: Thursday, July 3, 2008 (due to the July 4 holiday)
Where: Jefferson Room
Time: 10:00-11:30 am
Membership: Open to all
Questions: Call Tom Dente 921-1598

Sarasota UU, 3975 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, FL 34232

On May Day, the international worker’s holiday, longshore workers in the US are organizing to shut down major ports on the west coast in protest of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. You can learn more about their action here: http://sbindymedia. org/for_workers_ strikes_against_ the_war

In solidarity with workers shutting down shipping lanes, we will shut down the street and hold a Reclaim the Streets party to send a strong message: Until the war ends, there will be no business as usual!

The atmosphere will be festive, with:
- Dancing
- Music
- Games
- Free Food
- Street Art
- Street Theater

Bring toys, games, costumes, art supplies, banners, and other implements of merrymaking!

*Please bring your battery-powered boom-boxes to be a part of the Anti-War Radio sound system - we want to be as loud as possible!*

Sarasota 4:00 pm, Thurs May 1 Meet at Pioneer Park on 12th and Cocoanut - From there we will march to the party

Housing for out of town activists is available, contact james.birmingham@ncf.edu to make arrangements

More info here: http://sarasota.indymedia.org/local/04-15-2008-stop-war-reclaim-streets

From Meigs:

This Friday, Jan. 25th, 2008, 11:30a.m.

Our own Axel Lohrish is presenting a lecture “Daily Life Under a Stalinistic Dictatorship” at Selby Public Library. 1331 First St. Sarasota, FL, in the Auditorium. 11:30 am - 1:00 PM. Free and open to the pubic. Alex presented his lecture on this theme concerning life in East Germany to the Humanists of Sarasota last winter. Not only was it interesting —his remarks permanently deepened my understanding of life and politics in such places. (No reservation is needed; you can just walk into the lecture.)

From Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster:

The Florida State School Board is holding public hearings to talk about changes to science standards.New standards were written by scientists and educators, but some evangelical Christians want Creationism and Intelligent Design taught as well.

Clearly, this is an issue that concerns us. Are there any Pastafarians in Florida willing to give us a first-hand report?

They’ve held a meeting in Jacksonville already. There’s a meeting in Fort Lauderdale next week.

You can read the article from First Coast News, though it does not say much.

A more informative article: here

*Update*

The meeting in Ft. Lauderdale is scheduled for:

JANUARY 8TH from 5:30-7:30pm

Can anyone make it? A prize to anyone who shows up in pirate regalia and asks - respectfully - if the new standards will be inclusive of the beliefs of Pastafarians.

From the Herald-Tribune:

Human bodies exhibit to be shown in Sarasota

SARASOTA — The exhibit that has drawn praise and criticism for its intimate look at the inner workings of the human body is coming to Sarasota beginning this week.

“Bodies Revealed” opens for what promoters call a limited engagement on Friday at G.WIZ, the hands-on science museum. The length of the exhibit’s stay will be decided by its popularity, organizers said.

Full article here

If you haven’t seen the BODIES exhibit yet, I highly recommend it.

More information available at the G.WIZ webiste:
http://www.gwiz.org/

PBS’s NOVA will be airing a new dramatization of the Dover, PA case on November 13 at 8:00 pm.

More details here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/

Stephen Pinker will be a featured author at the Sarasota Reading Festival.  It looks like he will be doing a reading from his book around 2:30 PM at Fellowship Hall in the First United Methodist Church on Pineapple (schedule):

Steven Pinker
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
(Viking)
New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker possesses that rare combination of scientific aptitude and verbal eloquence that enables him to provide lucid explanations of deep and powerful ideas. His previous books-including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Blank Slate-have catapulted him into the limelight as one of today’s most important and popular science writers. Now, in The Stuff of Thought, Pinker marries two of the subjects he knows best: language and human nature. The result is a fascinating look at how our words explain our nature. What does swearing reveal about our emotions? Why does innuendo disclose something about relationships? Even the names we give our babies have important things to say about our relations to our children and to society.

Clip from a Stephen Pinker lecture on YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=eZW89kq0aBc

I just noticed that Michael Shermer will be appearing on the Colbert Report on Tuesday, August 21.  That should be a good one.